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SPEECH 



Hon. GEORGE B. LORING, 

ll-^<d3 UPON THE 

RESOLUTIONS 



STATE OF THE UNION, 



DELIVERED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 12, 1866. 



^^^^1 



SOUTH DANVERS: 

PRINTED BY CHARLES D. HOWARD, SUTTON BUILDING, 

18 66. 



SPEECH 



Hon. GEORGE B. LOPJNG, 



UPON THE 



KESOLUTIONS 



STATE OF THE UNION, 



DELIVERED IN THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF 
REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 12, 1866. 



SOUTH DANVERS: 

PRINTED BY CHARLES D. HOWARD, SUTTON BUILDING, 

1866. 



.Lass 



House of Representatives, > 
BosTOX, March 13, 1866. ) 

Hon. Geo. B. Loring: 

Dear Sir : The undersigned, members of the House of Representatives 
of Massachusetts, desire to thank you for your able, eloquent and patriotic re- 
marks made in the debate upon the resolutions "on the state of the Union, 
and the duties of Government to the Freedmen ;" and believing that the 
doctrines therein enunciated are such as will commend themselves to the en- 
lightened patriotism of the people, we ask that you will furnish us with a 
copy of them for publication. 

We remain, sir, truly yours, 

JAMES M. STONE, Speaker. 

HENRY L, PIERCE, 

GEORGE A. SHAW, 

JOHN I. BAKER, 

GKO. L. SAWIN, 

THOS. RICE, Jr., 

H. H. COOLIUGE, Jr., 

JAMES PIERCE, 

ISAAC S. POTTER. 

JOHN W. CANDLER, 

C. G. ROWELL, 

JOHN JONES, 

PLINY WOOD, 

H. HOSFORD. 

Salem, March 13, 1S66. 
Gentlemen : I am in receipt of your kind and complimentary note, ask- 
ing for a copy of the speech delivered by me in the House on the 12th inst., 
on " The State of the Union," 

If I have advanced any views which are deemed worthy of publication 
or have encouraged in any way the sound and philanthropic and patriotic en- 
deavors of loyal men to reconstruct the Government of the United States, I 
shall feel that I have been fortunate in the discharge of my duties as a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts. I have been guided 
in my course by my honest convictions of the obligations of the hour, and by 
what I conceive to be the high duty and purpose of our Federal Government 
in this crisis. 

I most cheerfully comply with your request, and I have the honor to be 
Respectfully, your ob't servant, 

GEO. B. LORING. 
Hon. James M. Stone, Speaker, and others, members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 



SPEECH. 



Mr. Speaher : — The resolutions which I had the honor, as 
Chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations on the part 
of the House, to submit, have already perhaps occupied more 
time than should be taken from that allotted to business, by a 
body whose sole power consists in expressing an opinion upon 
a matter, the final adjustment of which belongs to the Federal 
Government. I did not intend to enlarge upon them, feeling 
that it would be unnecessary to defend here in Massachusetts 
those great principles of human freedom which were declared 
by her sons more than a century ago — which have guided her 
policy throughout her political history — and for the defense of 
which she rushed to arms, foremost among those who rallied 
round the Flag of the Union, But the extent of the discus- 
sion, and the cool and deliberate stabs which, under the cover 
of devotion to the Constitution, humanity has received in this 
House, have induced me to reconsider my determination, and 
to ask the indulgence of the House, while I express what I 
conceive to be the meaning of the resolutions. 

Mr. Speaker, I am not one of those who believe that the 
people of the United States have passed through a great, fear- 
ful, bloody struggle simply and solely for the preservation of 
the Union. It was for this purpose that the work began, I 



know. A President, who is now canonized for his religious 
devotion to the cause of human freedom and for his martyr- 
dom in that cause, commenced his career of greatness by de- 
charing, " for the Union with slavery, or the Union without 
slavery;" yes, sir, he began here, in the ''blackness of dark- 
ness," to end by proclaiming, when the morning broke upon 
his soul, " that this nation shall have a new birth of, freedom, 
and that the government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth." Abraham Lin- 
coln, the Unionist, died and ascended into heaven, the Eman- 
cipationist, followed by the streaming eyes of millions of the 
sons of m-en, to whom the Union as it was had been a prison- 
house, and the Constitution as it was had been a decree of 
bondage. The war did this for him. 

A Republican Congress commenced the business of restor- 
ing the Union in council, while our armies labored in the 
field, by proclaiming that " this war is not waged for the 
* * * * purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the 
rights or established institutions of those States." Before the 
war closed it had presented an amended Constitution to the 
people, declaring that involuntary servitude had no longer a 
foothold in this Republic. 

Less than five months afler the war broke out. Gen. Fre- 
mont proclaimed in Missouri, that " the property, real and 
personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri who shall 
take up arms against the United States, or who shall be di- 
rectly proven to have taken an active part with their enemies 
in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and 
their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men." 
And this first emancipation proclamation was modified by the 
President, and it was for months a barrier in the way of Gen. 
Fremont's advancement. 

But three months afterward Gen. Phelps proclaimed to the 
people of the Southwest, *' that free labor is the right, the cap- 
ital, the inheritance, the hope of the poor man everywhere ; 
that it is especially the right of five millions of our fellow- 



countrymen in the slave States, as well as of the four millions 
of Africans there, and all our efforts, therefore, however small 
or great, whether directed against the interference of govern- 
ments from abroad or against rebellious combinations at home, 
shall be for free labor." And for adhering to this proclama- 
tion, Gen. Phelps found it convenient to retire to private life, 
from whose seclusion he has not yet emerged. 

On the 9th of jVIay, 1862, Gen. Hunter issued an order de- 
claring all slaves in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina "for- 
ever free." In ten days the President issued a proclamation 
abrogating the order of Gen. Hunter, as being in violation of 
a resolve just passed by Congress looking to "compensated 
emancipation." 

AVhy, sir, it was the government, the Constitution, the love 
of the Union, which stood for months between these American 
born people and their freedom. Every sword drawn in their 
behalf was sheathed by order, at once. Even Gen. Butler 
could not for months carry them beyond the condition of 
"contraband property" forfeited to the United States, and 
secure in that priceless boon of freedom which has since been 
offered them — 'UJie right to labor" 

Gen. McClellan eagerly and officiously offered the Virginians 
his awn "iron hand" to crush out any attempt at insurrection 
on the part of their slaves, even while they were manifesting 
but one desire — to find succor and protection within the Union 
lines. The value of the offer events have since determined. 
But the " order " went forth unrebuked. 

Sir, the day broke slowly. During the early months of the 
war the country was further than ever from the truths of the 
Declaration, and from that universal freedom which is now the 
Constitution and laws. We groped blindly on, fighting, as 
we said, for the Union, unmindful of what that Union was, as 
it passed, newborn, from the hands of the fathers. And so, 
sir, it was a war devoid of vital force, and high intent, and 
meaning, until the great decree went forth emancipating the 
slave, and declaring that he who fought for the Union, fought 



8 

for the liberty and equality of all men under the American 
law. From that hour every blow that was struck unloosed 
the fetters of the slave. The war then meant freedom. A 
bolt from heaven had scattered the imposing structure which 
years of slave legislation had erected, and had revealed that 
sacred, hidden temple of the early patriots and Christians of 
our land, upon which had been piled the heathen temple. 
The President rose up to the magnitude of the occasion, and 
Congress and the people were swift to follow. The orders of 
Fremont, and Phelps and Hunter became a part of the litera- 
ture of the army. The black man became a soldier — a fellow- 
soldier — a fellow-citizen — as he was in the days of Andrew 
Jackson before the blazing lines of New Orleans — no longer a 
contraband, no longer property. And as Grant pursued his 
solemn and bloody and resistless way through the Wilderness; 
as Sheridan swept up and down through the valley of the 
Shenandoah ; as Sherman carried terror and destruction into 
the hostile land on his great march, every vestige of bondage 
was swept away, ahd the era of constitutional freedom was es- 
tablished. When Richmond fell and Lee surrendered, the 
Union was more than saved — it was purified ; the Constitution 
was more than preserved — it was amended. The war which 
began in darkness ended in light. 

To that light I, for one, do not propose to shut my eyes. I 
thank God that the days of Dred Scott decisions, and Fugitive 
Slave laws, and Secession ordinances, and State right heresies 
are over. They were dark days enough, even when illumined 
by the light of the Constitution. The great slave policy of 
the country was not easy to bear, even when it brought all the 
authority of the Constitution to its support. Standing on that 
Constitution, let us now appeal for freedom alone. Let us use 
the old implements of bondage, if we use them at all, in be- 
half of emancipated man. Do we turn to the Supreme Court? 
Let us take courage from the glorious record of the great Chief 
Justice, in the cause of freedom. Do we turn once more to 
the Constitution for knowledge upon our civil and political 



9 

relations ? Let us know at last that " State rights " means 
the right of a State to claim the protection of the General 
Government, in all its endeavors to secure the largest freedom 
to all men, and to diffuse religion and education, and preserve 
peace and prosperity throughput its borders. Let us under- 
stand that "State rights" are not a barrier to civilization. 

Do we not accept the modifications in our civil policy, which 
the war has created in all matters relating to finance, military 
organization, internal revenue, the acknowledged relations of 
the States to the General Government ? When we look about 
us for the law or precedent upon which our national banking 
system is founded, do we find it in the arguments of the old 
apostles of State rights and an independent treasury ? Do we 
find authority for our present military organization, in the 
records of past wars ? Not at all. And no man cortiplains of 
these material changes in our governmental policy, when ap- 
plied to the business of administering the laws. But let the 
Federal Government stretch forth its hand to guard the bond- 
man, or to confirm the rights of the freedman, or to protect 
the emancipated slave against the cruelties of his former 
master, and in an instant the alarm is sounded, and the States 
are in danger. Sir, I think the country has had enough of 
this cry. I know not how it is, but upon the doctrine of 
" State rights " slavery has been defended, treason has been 
encouraged, disloyalty has been founded, and disgrace has 
threatened the country. And now the doctrine is appealed to 
as an easy road over which rebels may travel into power, and 
their old social status may be preserved. In this last appeal 
there is not even the merit of necessity. 

Mr. Speaker, I think the American people understand and 
feel this. I think they know that humanity is more in danger 
than the Constitution. I think they are determined not to 
compromise human rights again. I think they recognize the 
fact that the war has been fought for human rights and the 
Union, and not for the Union regardless of those rights. I 
think they have kept pace with the times, and that the light 



10 

which enlightened the mind of their great leader as the war 
went on, has also fallen upon them. I think, sir, they turn 
now to Congress, their own immediate representatives, with 
faith and assurance that they at least understand the obliga- 
tions which the war has imposed on the American people, and 
with a determination to stand by them in their efforts to carry 
out the provisions of an amended Constitution. Hence it is 
that I think we have gained more by the war than simply the 
Union — a knowledge of human rights, and a determination to 
see those rights vindicated. 

Filled with this thought, I turn to that branch of govern- 
ment in whose hands the power of vindication, as a part of the 
work of reconstructing our government, rests. I accept, there- 
fore, the first resolution which declares that " the initiation of 
all measures for the civil and political organization of the 
States lately in rebellion is constitutionally within the control 
of Congress." I do this not for the purpose of reflecting 
upon any other branch of our government, or of expressing 
my disapproval of any avowed policy before the country — 
but because I find that the great fundamental acts of repre- 
sentative government are always inaugurated by the popular 
branch. The history of all legislative bodies proves this. 
Freedom has always found its protection in the popular 
branch — or in the legislative branch — whatever the execu- 
tive may have been, whether King or President. So Lord 
Kenyon, in 1779, when Benjamin Flowers was committed by 
the House of Lords for a libel on the Bishop of Llandaff, 
said : " These insinuations are thrown out against the en- 
croachments by the House of Lords on the liberties of the 
subject ; but the good subjects in this country feel themselves 
protected in their liberties by both Houses of Parliament." 
So the fearless Pym, in the great commotions of 1640, said: 
" The great privileges belonging to this High Court of Parlia- 
ment are not airy and matters of pomp, but have in them 
reality and efficacy ; whereby this Great Council of the King- 
dom is enabled to perform all those noble functions which 



11 

belong to them in respect to the legislative power and the 
conciUary power." 

And magna charla, the Englishman's Declaration of In- 
dependence, declares that — " Tlie pretended power of sus- 
pending laws, or execution of laws by regal authority with- 
out consent of parliament, is illegal." 

" That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in 
Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any 
Court or jilace out of Parliament^ 

The Constitution of the United States confers all its great 
powers on Congress, viz : To lay and collect taxes, pay the 
debts and provide for the common defense; to borrow money; 
to regulate commerce ; to establish a uniform rule of natural- 
ization ; to coin money ; to establish post offices and post 
roads ; to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 
to declare war, etc. ; to raise and support armies ; to provide 
and maintain a navy ; to provide for calling forth the militia 
to execute the laws of the Union ; to make all laws which 
shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the 
foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by the Consti- 
tution in the government of the United States or in any de- 
partment or office thereof. 

Upon the President, the Constitution confers comparatively 
limited powers. By it he is made Commander-in-Chief of the 
army and navy of the United States ; he may, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, make treaties, and ap- 
point officers under the General Government. He shall, from 
time to time, give to Congress information of the State of the 
Union, and recommend such measures as he may deem neces- 
sary ; and he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
Houses of Congress. 

The great principles of government, brought by our fathers 
from England, and applied here to the business of self-govern- 
ment, taught them that the legislative branch is the great 
creative power, and the great popular defender. They never 
forgot this. In framing our Federal Constitution they bore it 



in mind. Even in conferring the veto power upon the Exe- 
cutive, they provided that two-thirds of each branch of Con- 
gress should suffice to overcome the veto. And they guarded 
with special care that branch of government with which the 
people were in most immediate contact, and which was most 
frequently subjected to the popular vote. It is not too much 
to say, therefore, in a crisis like this, that Congress has the 
initiative power in regard to the terms upon which States late 
in rebellion can return to the Union. 

The American people have always had faith in their legisla- 
tive bodies. In early colonial days they cherished their pop- 
ular assemblies. They were proud of the mother country, 
and boasted of their loyalty ; but dearer than all ancestry or 
allegiance, was their right of representation, and they insisted 
on the exercise of this right until they established it by the 
sword of revolution. In all the great trying periods of our 
history, the power of the Legislature has been manifested for 
guiding and sustaining the people. It was in the Continental 
Congress that the great civil names of our early republic won 
their renown — the Jeffersons, and Henrys, and Lees and 
Adamses of that city. And on that great arena, where pop- 
ular rights were discussed, and a rising nation was molded 
into form, the high debate of the hour brought forth those 
grand principles of government upon which our republic now 
rests. It was Congress in the war, Congress during the con- 
federation, Congress at the adoption of the Constitution, which 
was clothed with the largest power. Said Samuel Adams : 
''The first fundamental, positive law of all Commonwealths 
or States is the establishing of the legislative power." And 
when this great man of the people was reminded by John 
Adams that " the nobles have been essential parties in the 
preservation of liberty ; that there is a " natural and actual 
aristocracy among mankind ;" that they had seen " four noble 
families rise up in Boston, the Craftses, Gores, Daweses, and 
Austins ;" and that " we must not depend alone upon the love 
of liberty in the soul of man for its preservation," he simply 



13 

replied, " Is not the whole sovereignty, my friend, essentially 
in the people?" "the American Legislatures are nicely bal- 
anced ;" "• the cottager may beget a wise son ; the noble, a 
fool." And we may congratulate ourselves that the faith of 
Samuel Adams has thus far been the Ameiican doctrine, and 
that in peace and in war, through all political trials and revo- 
lutions, the popular power, the legislative function, has been 
preserved in all its purity — a " government of the people, by 
the people, and for the people." 

So much for the powers, and the meaning and intent of 
Congress, as a branch of the federal government. What, sir, 
are its duties in this present crisis ? First and foremost, I be- 
lieve its most sacred duty is to see that all the objects of the 
war are fulfilled. I think all will now agree that no war can 
honorably cease, until all the objects of that war are secured 
to the victors. Now, sir, there are certain objects of the war 
which are secured beyond dispute. These are, the supremacy 
of the federal government, the American nationality, our 
existence among the nations of the earth, the financial power, 
and the military authority of the general government, the 
emancipation of the slave, the unity and prosperity of the 
American people. On all these matters we may repose in 
safety. We may survey with pride and satisfaction the great 
fabric of government which we have reared and saved; and 
which we offer as an asylum for the oppressed of all nations. 
We may rejoice in our high position among the nations of the 
earth. We may dwell upon the future greatness of our repub- 
lic, until our minds are bewildered, and imagination loses itself 
in the vast fields which the future opens before it. Whatever 
of confidence filled the souls of those who founded the repub- 
lic, may now inspire our own, as we measure the beauty and 
strength of the fabric which they reared. No intestine com- 
motions may alarm us ; foreign invasion presents no terrors 
now ; the fears of poverty and bankruptcy all fade away be- 
fore the ceaseless and untiring energy of an industrious and 
intelligent people. 



14 

Do you say this Is all. Sir, it is not all. We have, as a 
consequence of the war, aye, sir, as an object of the war, 
when it had reached its true intent, liberated four millions of 
the sons of men from bondage, and have taken upon ourselves 
the task of elevating them to the standard of citizenship. 
This is now our great duty as a nation. We may not, we 
cannot neglect it. In the pride of our power we may despise 
this work, and pass by on the other side. But we may assure 
ourselves that all our prosperity, and peace, and national 
greatness, and social splendor, and civil elevation will be ap- 
ples of Sodom to us and our children, if we fail now in this 
great act of justice toward the freedmen — toward those who 
have poured out their blood with us for our Government, and 
who, in fighting for our freedom and franchise, hate learned 
Jiozv to figlit for their own. God is just; and his rewards and 
punishments overtake men, before they pass beyond the con- 
lines of earth. If we have no higher motive, then, none of 
humanity, none of justice, none of rectitude and honesty — let 
us at least bear in mind that our material prosperity cannot 
bear the shock of cruelty and wrong to a great producing class 
of the community. Who can count the effect upon our cot- 
ton fields and our bonds, of a re-enslaved and disfranchised 
people in our midst? Who can estimate the evil that may 
befal us, from these sullen and disappointed tribes ? 

This question of protection to the Freedmen involves the 
whole matter of re-construction. It covers the demand that 
Congress shall guaranty a republican form of government to 
all the States. It is connected with uniformity of citizenship. 
It underlies the system of equality in representation. It in- 
includes the very foundation of any readjustment of affairs in 
the States lately in revolt which can secure peace, prosperity 
and equal rights to all. 

Now, sir, the very suggestion that Congress has any power 
whatever over the condition of the freedmen, implies the ex- 
istence of an extraordinary and unusual power of the general 
government in the eleven States where the freedmen exist. 



15 

Does any one deny this ? But twelve months ago the Federal 
armies, under the direction of the President as Commander- 
in-Chief, were marching through those States, laying waste 
the laud with fire and sword, as in the country of an enemy. 
The people there recognized another government than ours, 
and were treated by us as belligerents, under all the laws of 
war. They carried on a system of government, involving cer- 
tain social and civil relations, wholly ignored by the loyal 
States and by the Federal authority of the Union. It is less 
than a year since this condition of things ceased. The war 
ended, so far as active operations in the field were concerned ; 
and a conquered people awaited the decrees of the conqueror. 
Were they instructed to reo)-ganize their local governments, 
each in its own way, and to proceed to the election of civil 
officers, regardless of the status into which they had been 
thrown by the war? Not at all. The first step taken in that 
direction was withdrawn at once. The President proceeded 
to exercise the war powers of the government, as the only 
means of ruling a disrupted and disorganized community. He 
appointed Provisional Governors, clothed with military power. 
He granted and withheld pardons. He retained military posts 
within their limits. He set aside elections. He suspended 
Courts. He suppressed newspapers. He held in suspense 
the writ of habeas corpus. He proclaimed that " the rebel- 
lion, which has been waged by a portion of the people of the 
United States, against the properly constituted authorities of 
the Government thereof, in the most violent and revolting 
form, and whose organized and armed forces have now been 
almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary ivogress, de- 
prived the people of t/ie State of Mississippi of all civil govern- 
inent" He held these States, not by any power found in the 
Constitution as an instrument of civil government, but by the 
war powers which had grown out of the rebellion. And he 
held them in this way when Congress came together. I am 
not aware, sir, that in exercising these powers, the President 
had hesitated, because the eleven States had had no voice in 



16 

the measures Avliich he saw fit to institute for their government. 
I am not aware, sir, that exercising military rule over a State 
is initiating any measures for its civil and political organiza- 
tion, as a sovereign member of that great body politic called 
the United States, This, I conceive, remains for Congress 
to do. 

I have not learned that at the opening of Congress, at that 
time when the operations for the permanent reconstruction of 
the Union passed from the hands of the Executive into the 
higher sphere of legislative action, there was any great dif- 
ference of opinion between these two branches of government, 
with regard to the actual condition of conquered States. I 
know there was a difference in phraseology. The late Chief 
Magistrate of this Commonwealth, who led the State so proud- 
ly and bravely through the war, has told us that " they had 
lost their loyal organization as States." We have been taught by 
our martyred President that the "practical relations" of these 
States with the general government had been suspended. On 
the one hand, the doctrines " once a State always a State," " a 
State can never die " — on the other hand " State suicide," and 
a "territorial condition," have been pressed upon our atten- 
tion. For myself, I accept the words of President Johnson, 
that by rebellion the people of a State have been " deprived 
OF ALL CIVIL GOVERNMENT." A State may not, indeed, go out 
of the Union ; i. e., provided the Union is strong enough to 
prevent its egress. It is a matter of war — a struggle of strength. 
And whether it goes out or not is not a question of constitution 
and law, but of bayonet and battery. Grant, then, that a State 
may not go out of the Union, and thus destroy its civil organ- 
ization ; it may certainly die in the Union, and by its mis- 
deeds become as much disabled and deprived of all power as a 
criminal who has forfeited all his social rights by his crimes. 
These States, Mr. Speaker, are dead, dead by acts of rebellion 
and war, dead in the Unioriy because their rebellion failed, as 
they would have been dead out of the Union, had their rebel- 
lion succeeded. And if this form of death is not sufficient to 



17 

pass them into the hands of the General Government for re- 
organization, and that the breath of life may be once more 
breathed into their nostrils, I will utterly finish their existence, 
by declaring with President Johnson that by rebellion they 
" have been deprived of all civil government" — a condition as 
fatal as that in which a patient is said to " die for want of 
breath," and somewhat like it. 

In this condition Congress found, them — Provisional Gov- 
ernors in some, elected Governors in some, disloyalty in all. 
They had been impoverished by the war. They were angry 
and sullen. They saw thousands of millions of dollars worth 
of property suddenly elevated into the priceless value of cit- 
izenship, and walking the free earth erect and manly. Was it 
it to be expected of them that they would of their own accord 
fulfill all the objects of the war, as carried on by the Federal 
Government, with an amended Constitution ? They had not 
forgotten the traditions of their fathers, the associations of 
their childhood, the customs of their lives, the social lines 
drawn for generations, the proud superiority, the cringing, 
abject servitude. To ask these men to carry the church, and 
schoolhouse, and ballot box, open to all, into their States will- 
ingly and cheerfully and without aid, would be a hopeless act 
of folly ; to allow these men to organize their States without 
these blessings, would be the refinement of cruelty to the 
freedman. One object of the war is to confer upon all men 
the right to hold property, to organize the family, to appear in 
the courts. Could we call on South Carolinians to do this for 
a race whose property in their own persons had been denied, 
whose family ties had been identical with those of the domestic 
animals, and whose courcs of law had been the dungeon and 
the whipping-post ? We might call, perhaps, but Gov. Perry's 
doctrine of a " white man's government," Gov. Aiken's re- 
fusal to sell to the negro lands under any circumstances, and 
his threats of banishment, the laws of Louisiana regulating 
labor, are all the reply we could get, or could expect. 

Now, sir, I ask any man possessed of ordinary sagacity. 



18 

whether he would open the doors of Congress and allow the 
representatives of these disrupted and anarchical States, these 
communities smarting under the weight of recent defeat, to . 
take their seats and legislate upon the affairs of this nation. 
Do you think our bonds would bear such a pressure with im- 
punity ? Are we sure, sir, that the burthen of $2,000,000,000 
of war damages at the South would not be added to our debt 
by these men and their allies at the North ? Are we sure that 
the holders of the war loan of the South might not elevate 
their own bonds and depress ours, until they met somewhere, 
to constitute a national debt ? True, these eleven States may 
have an interest in these matters, a deep and vital interest. 
So they had in the prosecution of the war against them ; so 
they had in the last Presidential election and the Chicago plat- 
form ; so they had in the passage of the emancipation amend- 
ment, and the test oath, and the confiscation act ; but I am 
not aware that Congress hesitated in its action because they 
had no voice in the passage of these and similar acts, nor that 
the President vetoed these bills on this account. No, sir, 
neither the public welfare, nor the cause of good government, 
nor the interests of humanity, nor a sense of justice, requires 
that these States should have a voice in Congress until they 
have accepted such terms as will prepare the way for their 
elevation to the highest standard of republican government. 

With this view, sir, I cannot too much admire the course 
pursued by Congress upon the question of reconstruction. 
Guided by a thorough understanding of the obligations which 
the hour has imposed on them, by a true appreciation of the 
solemn duty which devolves upon those who would forget the 
errors of the past and accept the great truths of the present, 
they have proceeded with caution and judgment in their work. 
They have called for information, sometimes successfully and 
sometimes not. They have patiently explored the condition 
of the States lately in rebellion through a committee whose 
investigations will form one of the most important portions of 
the history of these times. They have endeavored to provide 



19 

for the wants of the freedman by establishing a bureau whose 
practical operation should carry freedom and education into 
the dark places of the South, and protect the oppressed against 
injustice and wrong. And they have presented the admirable 
spectacle of determination to defend the highest principle and 
the right against all attacks, come from what quarter they may. 
We are told that Congress has failed to present any definite 
plan of reconstruction, and that the country demands this. 
But when I consider the " plan " which has been presented on 
the one hand, and the efforts of Congress to construct the 
foundations of the edifice before the walls are erected, on the 
other, I am compelled, as a believer in the highest ends and 
duties of government, to go with those who will not be satis- 
fied until, without concession or compromise, the Constitution, 
as now interpreted, is made the supreme law of the land. 
And while I am obliged, from the very nature of things, to 
accept the testimony furnished the Reconstruction Committee 
by Grierson and Thomas and Covode, I shall not feel that I 
am guilty of any injustice to white or black, in advocating 
delay for reformatory purposes in the Southern States. The 
President has exercised his war power for months with a result 
too well known. Let Congress now exercise its power in the 
same direction, and of the result we need have no fear, so long 
as it is guided by the light which now shines upon it. 

Mr. Speaker, in the days of the fathers, a compromise was 
adopted, not for the purpose of confirming an evil, but in 
order to open a way, as all believed, for its removal. We 
cannot repeat this. Concession now is simply a recognition of 
the right of a State to disfranchise its people, and build up its 
institutions on anti-republican foundations. There is no neces- 
sity for this. Nothing is to be gained by it, but additional 
disgrace and future conflict and confusion. We cannot meet 
oppressive local laws by recognizing their validity and consti- 
tutional power. They can only be met by utter denial and 
bold opposition. When I consider the disposition of those 
States which have not yet learned what a republican govern- 



20 

ment Is, and read their legislative enactments with regard to a 
large portion of their population, I fail to discover the virtue 
of concession to such a spirit. But in an unflinching demand 
for right and justice, I do see present success and future honor. 
Recognizing as I do the power of Congress to hold these States 
in abeyance, and to demand of them entire conformity with 
the Constitution, as amended, I would have them present them- 
selves at the door of Congress, asking for restoration to their 
former position in the Union, with their Constitution so amend- 
ed that: 

1. "There shall be no oligarchy, aristocracy, caste or mon- 
opoly invested with peculiar privileges or power," within their 
borders. 

2. All citizens, of whatever race or color, shall be made 
equal under the law. 

S. Every male citizen, who can read, and is laboring under 
no disqualification which is not applicable to all men, shall be 
entitled to vote. 

4. The systems of schools shall be open to all. 

5. No obstacles shall be placed between any citizen and his 
rights in the courts. 

Once having established these principles of government and 
human rights throughout this land, I am ready for one, sir, to 
abide by an apportionment based everywhere upon a free pop- 
ulation. I shall then know that representation throughout this 
laud is equal, and that American citizenship is the same, wher- 
ever the authority of the general government extends. 

I claim no new powers for the Federal Government — simply 
the full exercise of all the provisions of the Constitution — not 
only in the letter but also in the spirit. This immortal instru- 
ment has had its interpretations in accordance with the various 
events which have arisen, with political necessity, during its 
existence. In the new era of the Republic, upon which we 
have just now entered, I find it sufficient for me to return to 
those golden days when Washington, and Jefferson, and Frank- 
lin, and Adams, and Hamilton met in council, and starting 



from the doctrine that '' all men are created equal," employed 
their great minds in organizing a Eepublican government. I 
accept their views of what such a government is. I return to 
those early days, when the right of suffrage was confined to no 
race or color, and when, with the single exception of South 
Carolina, the free colored man was a voter everywhere. I 
pass beyond the time when the evil genius of slavery first 
whispered in the ear of the American people that this is a 
" white man's government ;" and I only ask that the Consti- 
tution may be interpreted, and the laws administered, in ac- 
cordance with the principles of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. 

I am aware, Mr. Speaker, that I have occupied more than 
my due proportion of the time of the House in sustaining the 
principles expressed in the resolutions reported by the com- 
mittee. I trust these principles may be adopted as the sense 
of the House in some form. With regard to the phraseology 
of the resolutions, I have no special interest. They have un- 
dergone a long and careful scrutiny of the committee, and 
"with one exception, they were unanimously adopted. They 
agree essentially with the platform upon which we elected the 
present Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth, and upon 
which he stands to-day fearlessly and firmly. And they are 
drawn from the recorded opinions of those who have led Mas- 
sachusetts up to her high distinction in the sisterhood of 
States. 

Of the single personal allusion in the resolutions, I desire 
to say a word. Massachusetts has always been sensitive with 
regard to the lienor of her great men. Her people have al- 
ways been guided by the largest sense of freedom, and they 
have always stood around those who were true to them in the 
hour of trial. Of our Senators in Congress the State is and 
has reason to be proud. Their duty has not been light or 
small. Called upon to serve the Commonwealth in a period 
of unparalled difficulty, they have maintained the ancient re- 
nown won by those who led, in early days, the minds of the 



people up to the highest principles of free government. Equal 
at all times to the great emergency, they have won imperisha- 
ble fame for themselves, and for us, their constituents, the 
profound satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of their labors. 
In all her long line of Federal Senators, the names of Sumner 
and Wilson will forever stand conspicuous as among her tru- 
est and most faithful servants. Led on by these distinguished 
names, what an honorable front Massachusetts has presented 
in her Congressional delegation during the war — what a noble 
record she is now making in the work ot reconstructing the 
Government ! 

Is it surprising, then, that the people of Massachusetts 
should feel the opprobrious epithet when hurled at one of these 
favorite sons ? I trust, sir, we shall hasten to utter the popu- 
lar voice on this matter ; and to declare that confidence in 
Senator Sumner to which his devotion and integrity and abili- 
ty entitle him. If any man among us has been true, he has 
been. And when the heat of party passion shall have cooled, 
and the history of these times shall be submitted to impartial 
judgment, it will be found that his voice has always been 
heard in this great crisis of our government, calling for an ad- 
justment upon the eternal principles of justice and freedom, 
as truly wise and patriotic. We owe it to ourselves, more 
than to him, to adopt the resolutions which embody his views, 
and to do justice to his name and character as our Senator. 

I trust, sir, the resolutions will not be recommitted. I de- 
sire that they may receive the immediate action of the House, 
and that they may be taken up seriatim, that the people of the 
State and of the country may know what the Legislature of 
Massachusetts are ready to do in this hour of their country's 
trial. 



RESOLUTIONS 



On the state of the Union and the Duties of 
Government to the Freedmen. 



1. Resolved, That the rebel States should be held in abey- 
ance, and should not be permitted to join in the management 
of national affairs through representatives in Congress, until 
the people of said States shall, by fundamental enactments and 
otherwise, manifest a loyal spirit of submission to the authority 
and Constitution of the United States, and give such guaran- 
tees as Congress may deem sufficient to render it safe and pru- 
dent to permit them to again resume the functions and privi 
leges which they voluntarily surrendered by their rebellion and 
war; and in these matters the right of determination rests 
with Congress. 

2. Resolved, That we tender our thanks to the Senators 
and Representatives of Massachusetts at Washington, for their 
firmness hitherto in maintaining these principles, and for their 
resistance to all attempts to place in the halls of Congress dis- 
loyal men, or the representatives of disloyal constituencies, to 
the peril of the national credit, and at the imminent risk of 
losing by legislation all that we have gained by successful 
war. And we expect them to maintain this position in the 
future, and to the last. 



3. Resolved, That while thus expressing our confidence in 
our senatorial and representative delegations in Congress, and 
the determination of the people to stand by them, we are also 
impelled to take notice of the recent charges made, by name, 
against one of the Senators of this State, Hon. Charles Sum- 
ner, in the lately published speech of the President of the 
United States, and to declare that the language used and the 
charges made by the President, are unbecoming the elevated 
station occupied by him, an unjust reflection upon Massachu- 
setts, and without the shadow of justification or defence found- 
ed upon the private or public record of our eminent Senator. 

4. Resolved, That the enlightened judgment of mankind 

will hold not only the government, but the people of the ( 

United States, to the fulfilment, to the uttermost, in letter and 
in spirit, of the promises solemnly made to the freedmen; and 
any failure to fulfil them, would inflict a stain upon our na- 
tional character which would debase us among the nations, 
and subject us to the contempt of our contemporaries and of 
posterity. 

5. Resolved, That his excellency the governor be requested 
to transmit a copy of these resolutions to our Senators and 
Kepresentatives in Congress. 



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